Dwight Howard made 58.8 percent of his free throws in eight years with Orlando, but he's at 46.5 percent so far with the Lakers. MARK J. TERRILL, AP

LOS ANGELES – Perhaps it was the last time there was true clarity in the Lakers' front office this season.

I asked Lakers executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss a month and a half ago – before Dwight Howard started playing but Steve Nash stopped, before Mike Brown's defense was replaced by Mike D'Antoni's offense – about what then and even still now boils down to the central issue for the Lakers' franchise moving forward:

Doesn't Dwight still have a lot to learn as far as being a winner, about becoming the kind of mentally strong leader that is the mark of a truly great Laker?

Buss' response: "I don't feel that, but if you ask the question, I'd say Kobe would probably be the best teacher of that."

Yes, yes, yes.

The thorny part of that completely sensible answer is that maybe the question is inherently flawed.

Maybe being that kind of winner is something you can never really learn.

Howard's mental toughness came into question again after the Lakers' loss Sunday night to Orlando's crew of NBA novices. It was enough for Kobe Bryant to question directly what Howard and Pau Gasol are doing.

Bryant suggested to Gasol through the press that it's time to "put your big-boy pants on" with regard to accepting fewer post touches – which Bryant noted he has also accepted despite his own passion for the post.

But Bryant was hardly venomous toward Gasol, confident they together can tap back into Gasol's "Black Swan" again: "I know him," Bryant said.

Bryant more clearly placed blame for the loss on Howard, who shot 9 for 21 on free throws – officially following in Shaquille O'Neal's footsteps because no Laker had missed more than he made from the line with at least 20 attempts since O'Neal's final Lakers season in 2004.

Bryant's explanation for the Lakers' loss right off the bat postgame: "We continued to miss a lot of the easy ones." Bryant referred to "the easy ones" over and over. Soon enough, he went from implying blame to applying the vice.

"The pressure's on me and Dwight to perform really well," Bryant said. "We pick up for everybody else's mistakes, whenever it may be. He and I have to perform at a really, really high level – night in and night out."

About those free throws Howard is making 46.5 percent of the time this season – or less often than Bryant's 48.9 percent on field goals with actual plays, defenders and stuff – Bryant was also motivating Howard.

"He should look at it as an opportunity," Bryant said, "because once he conquers the ability to make free throws, the sky is the absolute limit for him."

Bryant threw out the expectation of "30 points a night" for Howard.

"Once he gets that down, there's no stopping him," Bryant said.

Just the same, there's something mentally weak to missing free throws – particularly when Howard, unlike O'Neal, has a decent enough shooting stroke to make 3-pointers in practice and even one in the previous game.

Howard has been sweating whether Staples Center fans boo his misses rather than cheer him toward future makes, and to that end, D'Antoni now knows he coached Howard incorrectly in the previous loss to Indiana: "I got ticked off at halftime, saying: 'You gotta make 'em,' " D'Antoni said. That's exactly what Howard says runs through his mind when he's at his worst at the line, shrinking under that pressure of everyone's expectations.

Well, Gasol is another player whose basic nature is to worry about what everyone thinks of him. O'Neal too was deeply insecure, though he tried to mask it with tenacity and force.

First O'Neal and then Gasol came to respect the quality a certain teammate who just does not give a bleep about those who doubt him when he trusts himself – a mindset that makes it much easier to excel. Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn referred to Bryant as "an extreme winner" before the game Sunday night – and then proceeded to carry out a game plan to take the ball out of Bryant's hands late and gamble on hacking Howard.

But did O'Neal and Gasol ever really learn to be like Bryant?

Could Gasol, splendid and skilled as he was in those title years with Bryant, have been the lead dog on a title team during that time? Hardly. And that brings us back to the question about Howard – with his Shaq-like physical superiority ... and mental insecurity.

This is supposed to be the season of shift from Kobe's team to Dwight's team.

In reality, it's far more about Dwight shifting to be more like Kobe.

Bryant believes that just like the offense, it's a work in progress.

Bryant said for years – long before the Howard trade scenario ever came up – that Howard is underrated because everything else about him is shrouded by that "goofy" exterior. Bryant has always seen some feisty dog in Howard.

"Dwight has a lot of that in him," Bryant said during training camp. "He just needs to bring it out and make guys pay every single day."

Two months into their life together, carrying a 7-8 record, Bryant is criticizing Howard for his free-throw shooting.

He's not saying Howard won't learn what it takes to win.

"Even though he smiles a lot," Bryant said, "he still cares a lot about this."

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